So spending a few hundred million on developing a more efficient solar panel is “cock-a-mania” idea but spending multiple billions on missile defense is a sound investment?
Dude, you’re a tech guy and an investor. Think about it.
Which do you think has the bigger potential for investment returns? How much of our GDP goes into energy? Building a solar panel that is just slightly more efficient than current technologies could be worth trillions of dollars.
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The problem is, again, our government had NO IDEA what was being built…. Read the details about this particular type of solar panel. It was doomed from day one, because the cost of using more than one flat panel was still < the cost of one of these "newer solar panels"...
The problem is our government has know knowledge of understanding/assessing. As an "investor", I would assume at least I would somewhat "understand" what I was investing into. No agency, no knowledge of what these companies where going to do...
If the government is going to have spend on an energy program. Fine. More power to our government. What is our energy program again, and how is the money being used????
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rant about defense spending
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You won't get a disgreement from me about how much we shouldn't be spending on defense. But the point I was trying to make was at least there's some direction on what "should" be built from DOD, with a spec and all.
These green projects was more like "here's the money, tell us what you're going to build, or tell us what you think you're going to build, even if you don't..." If there's any lesson to be learned about how we work in this country is that if you give someone a buck, they'll figure out how to spend 4 and won't remember what they used it for....It applies to our government.
The really really sad part is that someone is going to end up buying the i.p. of said company and that someone probably will be an overseas company.
